Barbara Cortez
'''Barbara Cortez '''is an officer within the Systems Alliance and a graduate of the Interplanetary Combatives Academy's Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT) program. Biography Barbara was born on February 6th, 2149 in the historic Jesús Nazareno Hospital. Barbara’s mother was a factory worker in Mexico City, her father was a businessman from Los Angeles. The two were always supportive of her and all of her endeavors. While they were never rich they always did their best to give her whatever she needed. After Barbara’s mother became pregnant with her she received a freelance job to help excavate and process a meteorite containing a large deposit of Element Zero. Without proper protection she unknowingly contaminated her unborn child. About a year after Barbara was born her father was able to move her and her mother to L.A. It was clear to almost everyone that Barbara was a smart and happy child. She was walking independently at age two and reading at age four. When her parents enrolled her into school she excelled and quickly became all of her teachers favorite. When she turned seven signs of her Eezo contamination began to manifest. At age thirteen representatives from Conatix Industries took interest in the child as a possible candidate for Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training. After running comprehensive medical examinations of the girl they found her Biotic potential to be unsubstantial and nominal at best, so Barbara was spared the rigors of BAaT. Back then Barbara was ashamed by her own biotic shortcoming, though by the accounts of those who went to Gagarin Station she might have dodged a bullet. Still Barbara’s parents saved up enough money to buy their daughter an L1 implant on her 16th birthday. Barbara’s introduction into the military began high school when she enrolled Junior ROTC. The young cadet seemed to have found her calling in life reveling in the camaraderie and the tenants of military valor. Throughout her four years of high school she excelled in virtually everything she did maintaining a 4.00 GPA, becoming captain of the Girl’s soccer team, and serving as Cadet Major for her JROTC program. For all of this and more she was accepted into the West Point Military Academy. Barbara’s quest for personal perfection served her well in West Point earning her top marks. Some disliked the over achieving cadet, seeing her as a “teacher's pet”. The cadets that Barbara did call friend would be her companions for life. The young woman would go to great lengths to help her friends out, whether it was help with homework or spotting some lunch money Barbara was the go to girl. At age 22 she would graduate West Point with honors, then further her career by volunteering to join the Systems Alliance. As an officer in the Alliance she decided that she would follow the career path on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operator. She served with distinction and was credited with saving nearly a hundred lives by the time she turned 28. Her comedible service record and impeccable performance at the academy made her an ideal candidate for ICT. There were 60 people who were accepted to ICT in Rio de Janeiro. By the end of the first day there were only 56 remaining. The candidates would work for 20 hours a day, pushed to their mental and physical breaking points. The intense focus and emphasis placed on small unit tactic, endurance, and survival. Towards the end of the training only 22 Cadets remained in the program. Their final task was to spend the next 50 days alone in the rainforest with no food, no water, and no weapons. Barbara would never forget a moment of the time she spent in the jungle. She mostly ate bugs and the occasional bitter root and the canopy was so thick she was usually unable to tell whether it was day or night. One night Barbara took shelter in a cave, but the cave entry collapsed trapping her in for over two days. Barbara wanted to quit but she had no way of signaling for evac. Eventually Barbara found another way out of the cave, that involved a treacherous swim in an underground lake. At long last 50 days was done and only ten emerged from the jungle as N1. Even with her biotic implant, it is a huge physical strain for Barbara to perform the most basic biotic tasks. Even simple things like reaching for a glass of water may result in a bloody nose or worse Barbara falling unconscious. After she graduated from ICT she received an L2 implant courtesy of the Systems Alliance. Despite the upgrade Barbara’s biotic capabilities are still considerably weaker than a normal L2 implanted soldier’s. As such Barbara is limited in how she incorporates her biotics in combat. Barbara spent the next few years in N school working up the ranks and at age 32 she had made it to N6. She spent the next year on the edge of Alliance space occasionally deployed with other strike teams in minor skirmishes against pirates and slavers, her bomb disposal skills always proving useful. Barbara was part of security detail on Shanxi, their mission was to protect a ceremony that was to commemorate the peace after the First Contact War and strengthen bonds between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. However, a group of radical turian terrorists still bitter about the reparations planned to set off a dirty bomb in the middle of the ceremony. After seeing a suspicious looking turian flee the scene Barbara found the bomb and was able to successfully diffuse it. She killed the culprit when he reached for a weapon. The Alliance promoted Barbara to full N7 status and to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. While the Hierarchy was unable to give a human any military honors, she did receive a letter of commendation from a turian general. Barbara spends much of her time traveling between the colonies on the fringe of alliance held space, often tasked with training the local security force and familiarizing them with the various IEDs used by Terminus pirates. The woman is rarely alone, usually being deployed as part of a fabled N7 strike team. Physical Description Barbara is a Hispanic female that that leans on the tall and athletic side of the physical spectrum. Standing an imposing 6’3 and weighing a muscular 188 pounds she can be an intimidating presence. Her dark brown hair is short and within alliance regulations. More often than not she keeps her hair in a short ponytail or tucked under her hat, but on more formal occasions she will do her hair up in a tight bun. Her nose has been broken twice in the past and has a slight right hook to it, while it isn't too noticeable she is very self conscious about it. Her eyes are emerald green like her father’s and lips full with a subtle cupid’s bow like her mother’s. Barbara wears medium Onyx armor that is a variant of the N7 Demolisher armor type. She sports a crimson shemagh and ball cap as she dislikes wearing helmets as she feels they interfere with her hearing. For real time tactical analysis, communications, and video surveillance she wears her distinct Kassa Fabrications visor. However, like all humans Barbara can not breath in outer space so she keeps her Recon Visor near for when the situation demands it. Personality Barbara views herself as a protector. She believes the safety of all those around her as not only her personal responsibility, but the purpose of her life. She likes to think of herself as the team mom, looking out for squad mates both on and off of the battlefield. This urge to keep people safe is why she decided to become an EOD operator. The woman takes great personal pride in her work ethic. The draconian teaching of West Point and ICT have left her with a sense of responsibility that she must always set a positive example for her crew mates. One of her instructors back at the academy would tell Barbara that “Bees could learn a thing or two from you.” As a proud alliance soldier Barbara is a strong supporter of traditional military doctrine. As such she does not like mercenaries type casting them all as opportunists and cowards. Barbara is to some extent an idealist, fervently believing in the good the Alliance does. Perhaps the woman’s biggest weakness is her stubbornness. She has a bad habit of making life more difficult than it has to be simply because she refused to accept any help. When faced with an obstacle Barbara would rather fight tooth and nail to forge her way through instead of finding a simple go around. Barbara always acts as if she has something to prove. While she is a brave woman, Barbara suffers from claustrophobia. When Barbara was left in the jungles of Brazil as part of her N1 training, she found herself trapped in a cave and nearly died. She has since become terrified of tight spaces. Despite her workaholic nature, Barbara finds some time for her few hobbies. The woman fancies herself a collector with a passion for history. Barbara’s quarters are decorated with artifacts ranging from a 19th century diving helmet to an alliance propaganda poster from the first contact war. Aside from collecting things Barbara also has a competitive side to her and is fond of gambling. Cards, dice, video games, anything so long as it can be bet on. Armament Barbara utilizes an N7 Typhoon assault rifle and an N7 Eagle heavy pistol while in combat. Her helmet comes equipped with a Tactical Scan module, and her armor comes equipped with a Tech Armor projection device and Fortification backup system. Her biotic abilities are passable in combat. Category:Humans Category:Characters Category:Systems Alliance Category:Soldiers Category:N7 Category:Human Biotics